Has chronic pain taken over your life?

• Are you living with chronic headaches, back, neck, stomach or other pain?

• Have you been diagnosed with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/ME)?

• Have you been to more doctors than you can count, and they don’t know what’s causing the pain?

• Maybe you’ve already had every test known to man, trying to figure out what the issue is?

• Perhaps you’ve been dismissed by doctors, or told “the pain is all in your head”?

• Have you given up on your favorite hobbies because of fear they will cause the pain to return?

• Do you avoid social events because you never know when the pain will crop up again?

• Or maybe your pain is affecting your relationships with your partner, kids, or ability to work?

If any of these are true for you, then I am deeply sorry. No one should have to live with chronic pain, and nobody deserves to be dismissed by the medical community, even if doctors cannot explain where the pain is coming from. You deserve a pain-free, fulfilling life, and I can help you get there.

Chronic pain has become an epidemic

According to research published by the CDC in March of 2023, an estimated 51 million people - which is more than 20% of American adults - suffer from chronic pain. That’s more than 1 in 5 Americans suffering from some form of chronic pain. So if this includes you, then you are not alone, even though it might feel that way most days as you’re watching all the other pain-free people around you just going about their lives, blissfully unaware of how much you are suffering.

Many people struggle with some form of pain, or multiple different kinds of pain at once, that have an unknown origin. This is often frustrating, because despite seeking help from medical professionals, nothing seems to help. Maybe you’ve tried a variety of western doctors with different specialties, physical therapists (PT), acupuncture, reiki, massage therapy, medications…and still nothing has worked. And then maybe you tried a bunch of pseudo-science backed programs off of social media when you got desperate. But still nothing helped much.

There is hope for healing with chronic pain treatment

What if I told you that many people who are stuck in chronic pain don’t have to be, and that with the right treatment, you might be able to reduce or even eliminate your symptoms? “Nonsense!” you might say, “I’ve already tried everything and the doctors told me I’m just doomed to be in pain forever”.

Our understanding of chronic pain has evolved over time, and not all doctors are aware of the latest advances, which were not available when they went through medical school. And let’s be honest, with the way our medical system is set up, they barely have time for patients, let alone a bunch of new training. Newer research shows that for many people with chronic pain, their pain might not be generated by a structural or tissue damage issue at all (e.g., a herniated disc, a food sensitivity, a sports injury), but by hyper-sensitized neurons in the brain that are misinterpreting safe signals and instead sending pain signals. This is a type of pain called neuroplastic pain, and NO, it’s not imagined or “just in your head”.

What is Neuroplastic Pain?

Neuroplastic pain is what happens when the brain is keyed up/on edge (perhaps from a history of trauma or a previous injury) and it then interprets every signal that comes its way as dangerous — much like a child who just heard a ghost story before bed and then worries that every bump in the night is a monster coming to get them. It is essentially a false alarm from the brain. But to be clear, this false alarm is NOT your fault, nor are you “making it up”. This pain is just as real as if you put your hand on a hot stove.

Where does pain come from?

All pain comes from the brain, even the kind that happens when you put your hand on a hot stove or break your leg. When you put your hand on a hot stove, the nerve endings in your hand collect data which they send to your brain. Your brain then reads that data like a report and interprets it to decide if there is a problem that needs addressing or not. In the case of the hot stove, your brain says “WOW, that’s way too hot, if we don’t move our hand fast, then we’re going to get burned!”. The brain then sends pain signals down to the hand to let you know something bad is happening and you should move your hand. The medical term for this is called nociceptive pain.

Is neuroplastic pain “real pain”?

Yes. The process that generates the pain signals when you put your hand on a hot stove is exactly the same as the one that causes neuroplastic pain. The only difference is that with neuroplastic pain, the brain misinterprets safe data in the report as dangerous (e.g. it thinks that pressure from the back of your chair is actually a dangerous herniated disc) and sends a pain signal because it believes you are in danger even though you are not.

This misinterpretation is not your fault, nor is it under your immediate cognitive control—meaning you’re not in pain because you want to be, it’s your brain circuits malfunctioning because they’re stuck on high alert. This is the same type of pain that amputees feel, which is often referred to as phantom limb syndrome, because the brain still thinks the limb is there and in danger. But the good news is that since the pain is coming from the brain, and not a structural or tissue damage issue, then it can also be rewired in the brain to turn down the volume and eliminate the pain using an evidence-based process called Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT).

What is Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)?

Pain Reprocessing Therapy is a type of evidenced-based treatment for chronic pain that helps retrain the brain to interpret signals from the body appropriately, and stop the cycle of chronic pain. It involves multiple components, including education about the origin of pain and how to reverse pain cycles, as well as mindfulness and somatic therapy practices to help calm the nervous system so the brain can stop interpreting everything as dangerous.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy is the most effective form of chronic pain treatment we currently have, according to a study conducted at the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2021. In a randomized controlled environment, 98% of the participants receiving PRT improved throughout the 4-week treatment, and 66% were pain-free or nearly pain-free by the end of treatment.

FAQ’s About PRT for Chronic Pain

I know you’ve probably already tried everything under the sun, and nothing has worked, so you’re skeptical. I get it. I was too. Hopefully I can answer some of the questions you might have:

What if I have an abnormality on my MRI? Can PRT still work for me?

Absolutely! This is one of the most common — and most understandable — questions I hear. Many people assume that if an MRI shows a disc bulge, degeneration, or another “abnormality,” then their pain must be structural and permanent. But research tells a more nuanced story.

One well-known example is the Boulder Back Pain Study, which found that a large percentage of people with chronic back pain had completely normal MRIs, while many people with no pain at all had herniated discs or other structural findings. In other words, abnormalities on imaging are incredibly common, especially as we age — they’re sort of like wrinkles on the inside, totally normal and not problematic — and they don’t reliably predict pain.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy doesn’t claim that structures don’t matter. Instead, it recognizes that the brain ultimately generates pain, and that even once the original injury has healed, the nervous system can become stuck in a danger loop. Many people with MRI findings still experience significant relief once the brain learns that the body is safe again.

Why didn’t my doctor tell me about this? Is PRT legit?

It’s a fair question. Pain Reprocessing Therapy is evidence-based, but it’s also relatively new compared to traditional medical approaches to pain. Medical training tends to lag behind emerging neuroscience, especially when it comes to the brain’s role in chronic pain.

PRT is grounded in decades of research on neuroplastic pain and has been developed and studied by respected physicians and researchers. Doctors like Howard Schubiner, MD have written extensively about how the brain creates and maintains chronic pain — and how it can be retrained. And books like The Way Out by Alan Gordon and Alon Ziv have helped bring this science to the public in a compassionate, accessible way.

More recently, large clinical studies have shown that PRT can lead to significant pain reduction or even complete relief for many people — often outperforming traditional treatments. It’s legitimate, well-researched, and increasingly recognized… it just hasn’t become standard practice everywhere yet. And when all you have is a hammer (surgeon), then every problem looks like a nail (the answer is surgery!)

How do I know if my pain is neuroplastic — and if this might work for me?

Neuroplastic pain doesn’t mean the pain is imagined or “all in your head.” It means the brain has learned to keep sending pain signals even when the body is no longer in danger. There are some common signs that pain may be neuroplastic in nature.

For example, your pain might:

• Come and go without a clear physical pattern

• Shift locations over time (e.g, from your back to your neck to your head)

• Be inconsistent with specific movements or positions (unlike a broken wrist that hurts every time you use it, sometimes your pain shows up, and other times when doing the exact same thing, it doesn’t)

• Flare during times of stress, anxiety, or emotional overwhelm

• Improve temporarily when you’re distracted, relaxed, or doing something you enjoy

That said, you don’t have to figure this out on your own. Chronic pain is complex, and everyone’s story is different. If you’re curious whether your pain might be a good fit for Pain Reprocessing Therapy, I’m happy to talk it through with you.

I offer a free consultation where we can explore your symptoms, your history, and whether this approach feels right for you — no pressure, just clarity and support.

Are you ready to heal your chronic pain?

I am certified in Pain Reprocessing Therapy and was also a chronic pain sufferer myself for over 3 years. So I know what it’s like to watch your life get smaller and more hopeless because your pain is taking over. But once I started using PRT in my own life, I was able to completely eliminate my pain within a couple of months. I would love to see if we could do the same for you! If you want to learn more and get a personalized plan, sign up for a free consultation call below to explore your options.